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Allergies

Allergies are caused by the body's overzealous reaction to normally harmless substances. Allergies can be triggered by pollen, animal dander, mold, dust, and insect droppings, or by certain foods or insect stings. Upper respiratory allergy symptoms include runny nose, itchy eyes, coughing, wheezing, and sneezing. Up to 50 million people in the U.S. have allergies.

Control Your Allergies, Don't Let Them Control You

About one-third of adults have nasal allergies and all the miserysniffling, sneezing, watery eyes, and a stuffy nosethat go along with them. Find out the most common triggers of allergic reactions, the best ways to treat your symptoms, and how to avoid allergens to stop allergy misery before it gets started.

Allergies News

Children living in the United States who were born elsewhere are less likely to have allergies than those born in the United States, a new study shows. However, the risk of certain allergies among foreign-born children increases after they have lived in the United States for a decade, according to the researchers.

Have you noticed how much talk there is about food allergies these days? While you may not remember any of your grade-school classmates having a food allergy, the odds are that at least two kids in your child’s classroom have been diagnosed with one.

In much of the United States, there’s little evidence of spring yet, unless you have seasonal allergies. Folks with spring allergies are likely already experiencing sneezing, watery eyes and fatigue because of tree pollen, experts say.

The start of allergy season is overlapping with the cold and flu season in some parts of the United States, leading some people to wonder which ailment they have, an expert says. “We are already seeing patients coming in with allergy symptoms in Atlanta,” allergist Dr. Stanley Fineman, immediate past president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), said in a college news release. “Several people in the Southeast have been confusing their allergy symptoms for cold viruses.”

Actress Beverley Mitchell (remember her? she played Lucy Camden on the TV show 7th Heaven) announced she is expecting a baby girl in April, and she’s blogging about her pregnancy on People.com. In her first post she mentioned that her food allergies to yogurt, eggs, and cheese have gone away and she can now happily munch on things she hasn’t had in years, like pizza! I had no idea that pregnancy could affect allergies, so I decided to find out more.